First poster here. I wanted to take the time, though, and say thanks to all of you. I love your stories and your progress, and it helps so much knowing that there are so many people out here who are working as hard or harder than I am to feel better.
I've struggled with mental and physical illness for years, and I honestly never thought I'd get here. I used to have aspirations to join the Air Force, but a collection of injuries and conditions that coincided with my plans pretty much killed that. I had to adapt to change, and I didn't do a great job of it. I eventually learned to not blame myself for much of what afflicted me, but it's even now an ongoing process grappling with it.
Last year, I took a career opportunity that turned out to be toxic, and (for unrelated reasons) my wife and I began having marital issues. I was unable to leave my job at work, and I felt like I was struggling at home all the time. It was a war on two fronts for me, and it seemed like we were about to get a divorce. To make matters worse, I had to substantially revise my thesis and finish it out, and money became so tight that we were forced to eat whatever cheap junk food we could just to get by (or so I thought). I kept gaining and gaining weight, more than usual, and I peaked at about 305 pounds. It was by far my lowest point in recent memory. I no longer cared about my career, my marriage, or myself, and it just fed the cycle even more.
But something happened. On a whim, I went to a Brazilian jujitsu class, and I couldn't keep up at all. There was no competition. And I loved it. I finally decided enough was enough. I've always felt fat and have seen it grow over the years, but that was no longer an excuse for me. I don't know what changed, but I snapped. I started hitting the gym constantly, and I started trying to readjust my diet, and I started...a lot. I'm compressing a lot here, but I told my wife what essentially amounted to "shit or get off the pot" for both of us, and we started working on things.
It hasn't always gone perfectly. I've only lost about thirty pounds in a year, overall, because of slips and weeks of problems. But by God, I'm going to keep going. I've never felt this good in my life. I've finally got my diet down to a high protein, careful CICO regimen, and I've been building strength like no tomorrow in addition to shedding the weight I despise. I'm not ready to show any before and after pics, but it's a world of difference for my state of mind. Soon, I'll show this sub what I look like. If I don't get to what my goal is, that's still okay, because I know I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing now.
This is the first time I've ever felt good about the direction things are going, and I was about ready to give up on everything last year. The part I've left out so far is that this sub, along with several others, has kept me going. My marriage may still self-destruct, and my health may deteriorate, but getting into the habits I've needed to get into has led me to make some amazingly good decisions recently. I just took an offer for an incredible new job, paying much more, with more potential for growth, because I've decided to start valuing myself more than I have in the past.
Just want you to know, you've all played a part in that, whether you've posted, commented, lurked, or whatever, thanks to the sheer existence of this sub, and your hard work. So thanks. Again.
Tl;dr - you guys rock, and I'm getting my shit together because I want to be part of that.
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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/2CZbm49
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